Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was the only player who started the Bundesliga game against Bochum to take part in the team’s training session to start the week. Jonathan Tah & Co. were working in the gym while several other players went about their business on the pitch at the BayArena.
With Andrey Lunev and Niklas Lomb in goal, nine outfield players in three teams of three took part in intense matches on a reduced pitch. They included Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Karim Bellarabi. Strikers Patrik Schick and Lucas Alario were working on their comebacks nearby. Charles Aranguiz was also out on the pitch on Monday.
When looking in the TV studios and mixed zone at the BayArena on Monday it was hard to miss the fact that Christmas is fast approaching. It saw the likes of Hradecky and Lunev battling for black and red wrapped gifts.
Tah, Nadiem Amiri, Moussa Diaby and Amine Adli were also in front of the cameras for YouTube and social media challenges. You’ll see all that and more in the coming weeks on the Bayer 04 channels.
Italian magazine Tuttosport announced a shortlist of 20 players for their 2021 Golden Boy award in October, with Leverkusen’s 18-year-old Florian Wirtz among the names. However, Barcelona’s Pedri was announced as the winner on Monday. Wirtz came in 04th position.
The Spain international follows Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland as the recipient of the award, which has been given to Europe’s best U21 player since 2003.
Horst Stollenwerk turned 88 on Monday. The homegrown midfielder turned into a true Leverkusen legend in the 1950s, never playing for another club.
Anders Giske was celebrating his 62nd. The Norwegian central defender made 29 Bundesliga appearances (1 goal) for the Werkself between summer 1984 and November of the following year.
Two special former Bayer 04 players would’ve turned 95 today in Martin (1926-2010) and Karl (1926-2015) Gramminger. Club legend Rüdiger Vollborn had plenty of anecdotes to tell about the Werkself’s first twins in his series “Rudi recounts”.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
Show more
It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
Show more
A disciplined and impressive team performance secured a 2–1 victory for the Werkself against league leaders SC Freiburg, who had remained unbeaten across all competitions until then; two players once again stood out at the BayArena: Artisic dribbler Ibrahim Maza scored Leverkusen’s first goal himself and set up the second, whilst goal-getter Patrik Schick had set up the equaliser and netted the winner. In doing so, the Czechia international set a remarkable club record. Both head coach Carles Martínez and the media were full of praise afterwards. Maza himself was also delighted with the growing rapport with “super striker” Schick: “The more we play together, the better we understand each other.” The Werkself’s comeback secured their fourth home win in their fourth home game of the season.
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 win at SC Freiburg on Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
Show more
